Keeping Secrets
by vaguely specific
Summary: Long after the defeat of Voldemort at the Battle of Hogwarts, approximately 26 years to be exact, a new school year is starting. A new class with many gifted young witches and wizards will begin to make their mark at the legendary school, and some familiar faces might show up from time to time. Rated T -to be safe.
1. Chapter 1: Beginning Again

May 23rd.

It was an unreasonably bright day as the rain spattered against the high vaulted windows of Hogwarts school. Sun streamed through the clouds almost spitefully, and the surface of the lake glittered as the wind swept over the school grounds.

Elysia's mother sat in a high backed chair facing the current Ancient Runes professor across an ornate dark wood desk. Her dark cinnamon colored hair was neatly twisted and pinned up. Elysia sat in the corner as the two women talked, trying to keep herself occupied by tracing strange shapes and figures into the thick oak legs of the desk with her eyes. The symbols became seared into the wood making it look more like antique that it had previously. She was blissfully unaware that she was being closely observed. The headmaster of Hogwarts stood in the corner diagonal from Elysia with his back resting against a tower of old books. His wavy black hair was streaked with gray, while his short beard was more salt than pepper, and he stood so still the women had all but forgotten him, except for Elysia, who had completely forgotten him.

"Well that'll do it for my part, I'm perfectly satisfied, Mrs. Levanin. Have you any other questions for my future replacement, headmaster?" said the squat witch with thick black –rimmed spectacles. The man in the corner smiled, as Elysia's slate blue eyes widened and rose to meet his for the first time. A look of suspicion dissolved into horrified understanding before she turned her head to face the office door.

"No, no, I am fully satisfied that Hogwarts will somehow survive your retirement Professor Babbling. Mrs. Levanin seems perfectly capable. Tell me young lady," he said, suddenly turning their attention to the small girl in the corner, "how will you like living at Hogwarts when you receive your letter in a few years?" Elysia thought the silence was deafening, but kept her mouth clamped tight and her face as plain as she could, betraying none of the fear and guilt that tightened deep in her stomach.

"Elysia, answer the Headmaster." Her mother said lightly. To which the girl only shook her head, causing her tawny brown hair to fall over her eyes, and pursed her lips.

"When did you take her to see the caves in Lascaux?" The wizard now asked Elysia's mother.

"Last fall, actually, but how did you..-"

"Your daughter has quite a memory for runes, and a flair for visual arts." he said, gesturing to the desk. "Don't worry about the desk, I assure you there is no harm done," he added, before Mrs. Levanin could scold her daughter. He drummed his fingers on the desk and the charred symbols fell away. Her mother gave Elysia a stern look, but the headmaster winked at her, his khaki eyes assuring her that she would indeed like living at Hogwarts when she finally got her letter.

Five years Later…

Cool gray sunlight streamed through the gauzy cream curtains, and the clunking sound of metal cooking pans sounded far away through the open bedroom door. The girl groaned lightly and turned from the window, but the cold morning was already reaching around her goose-down comforter chilling any exposed flesh it found. It was maddening, and successfully keeping her from sinking back into unconsciousness. This was doubly cruel since she could still remember the dream she'd be having before wakefulness had begun its sneak attack on her senses. She tried to cling to the now fading vision: a dimly lit stage, a wooden boat with black masts that rolled and pitched gaily with the painted wooden waves that moved unassisted around the vessel; a song, haunting and jolly and beautiful all at once, but already the tune was lost to her. Finally, she opened her eyes, and dragged her legs up to her chest, so that she was in a tight ball, before flinging her feet over the side of the bed and slowly pushing herself away from her beloved pile of cotton swathed pillows.

A warm buttery smell drifted up through the little house as Elysia stuffed her feet into gray woolen socks and wrapped herself in a threadbare robe, the latter of which didn't fall far enough past her knees to actually fit after her most recent growth spurt. She wandered blearily down a hallway, descending a knobby flight of wooden stairs and threw herself into an oversized green armchair. From where she lay across the chair, Elysia could stare into the kitchen as her grandmother bustled around setting down plate after steaming plate on the thick top of a dark barn-wood table. Fluffy rolls peered over the sides of a shallow platter, and seared sausages were piled high directly beside it. Roasted tomatoes and mushrooms crowded in by the corner of the table, bacon shimmering with grease sat near the middle and three places were set out, each plate with two poached eggs on a bed of freshly steamed spinach.

"If your mother doesn't get here soon everything will be cold," the old women cooed, without looking around. Elysia wasn't surprised, she was sure Gran had known the second she had stopped dreaming, so knowing the girl had ambled down the stairs wasn't much of a stretch.

"She'll be along, Gran. You..know.. a-her" she said stifling a yawn. The light outside was still dingy in the morning fog.

"I know," she said with meaning, "I just wish she'd be quicker about it, your granddad always said we should fix her glasses to read every clock as five minutes later that it really was… that way she might be early for something." Elysia laughed. Her mother was never later for anything, but she was never early either; she had a special gift for punctuality that Elysia hadn't inherited. As she stretched herself out on the chair, Elysia gazed out a large Bay window to the right of the kitchen table. The valley that surrounded the little log-house was laid thick with fog, but you could see the dark silhouette of the trees across the field. They started at the base of the hill and went up and up where hills turned into mountains and trailed off across the distance to the west.

Near the edge of the clearing, right where a few trees dotted the flat land, a disembodied chimney rose high from a full brick fireplace that, as far as anyone living could remember, had never been housed by anything other than the field. It was the faint reddish outline of this chimney that Elysia's eyes focused on, watching as the fog slowly dissipated to reveal the opening to the fireplace. She blinked, and now a figure was walking away from the opening and towards the house.

One minute and 47 seconds later at exactly 10:20 a.m. Elysia's mother opened the kitchen door and the curtains around the bay window fluttered from the gust of summer air that accompanied her.

"Morning dear, how's the floo holding up out there?" Gran asked.

"Perfect as always and with much less mess than if I used this one," she said, removing her professional looking robes and hanging them on a post by the door, so that she was left wearing a thin olive dress. "Everyone safely on the train and off to Kings Cross, and not a minute too soon, because I could certainly use a holiday. What about you, darling?" she smiled at Elysia.

"What do you want to do on your Holiday, mummy?" Elysia said slipping of the chair to give her mother a hug. Her mother squeezed the little girl's shoulders and furrowed her brow as she considered the question.

"I have a few ideas," she said finally, "but first BREAKFAST!" and she sat heavily in the closest chair and inhaled deeply from the still steaming plates before her. "Sit, sit. I missed breakfast at the castle, directing all the luggage and first years down the path." Elysia sat across from her mother leaving the chair at the head of the table open for Gran, the matriarch of their little clan.

After breakfast, Elysia's mother leaned back in her chair, visibly exhausted from their little feast, grinning contentedly. She sat up again suddenly as if just remembering something.  
"Elle dear, the Headmaster told me to be sure and let you know that letters will be sent out by mid-July, and -"

"Professor Callodian specifically told you to tell me that? So, I'm really getting my letter this year? You're sure?" Elysia gasped.

"Let me finish, please." And Elysia sat back in her seat and folded her hands in her lap in a convincing profession manner. "He told me to tell you that letters will be sent by owl by mid-july," and she paused dramatically getting up from her seat, "but that he wanted you to have this immediately." She removed a letter from an inside pocket of the robe she'd taken off earlier and presented to Elysia.

The girl only gazed at the spidery handwriting, touching the ink and mouthing the words to herself. She turned the envelope over and traced the purple wax-seal. A smile started slowly at the corners of her mouth but quickly spread over her face and she beamed up and her mother.

"Demeter are you sure that's such a good idea so early in the Summer? Now how will we keep her out of the shops in Diagon Alley? It was hard enough already and she wasn't even trained up." Gran said half-smiling.

"Can I open it now, mum? Please?"

"Oh, go on then."

The Summer seemed to drag on for Elysia that year. They went on Holiday to Corsica in the last days of June. Climbed the mountains ,traipsed the dense woods, explored the most famous historical sites side-by-side with muggles, but none of this was really new to Elysia. Not that she'd been there before or didn't learn and enjoy herself, but her mind was elsewhere, and muggles were nothing new to her. She thought seriously about how easy it was to blend in with them if one simply paid attention, especially surrounded by so many tourists. The food was a nice treat, and the beaches helped it to feel like a real summer holiday, but her mother was mostly there for magical research purposes and while she was busy getting access to and examining old artifacts, Elysia wandered and watched. She was good at that; seeing people, and not just noticing them, but really seeing them. What they did, why they did it, and so on. It wasn't magic, but sometimes Elle felt like it was. People didn't always notice she was even there, and if they did they weren't bothered by it, no matter what they were saying on their mobile phones or in whispers to their closest friends. She was good at listening too. People, she observed to herself, were strange. Muggles, wizards, it didn't really matter. Sometimes they didn't say what they meant, and sometimes they didn't mean the things they said. It wasn't hard to know one way or the other, but most people didn't seem to catch on.

After Corsica they went into Italy. They spent a little time in a peculiar old farm house, which muggles never seemed to notice was there, before travelling to Rome to remind themselves what the city was like. It was just like Elysia remembered; crowded streets and masses of tourists, air so hot you'd think the sun itself was breathing on your neck. And as they walked they licked cones of sticky-sweet gelato from a wizard's shop, it was the only gelato in Rome that didn't melt down your hand in two-seconds flat. Elysia watched people here too. As she and her mother strolled the Via Nazionale, she suddenly decided that the people in Rome seemed more honest somehow, but it was an in-the-moment sort of honesty. Just because someone spoke sincerely and lovingly to the person they draped their arms around, it didn't mean that they weren't already married to someone else. Elysia then decided that life was very complex and that people just made it worse, and she didn't understand _that_ at all.

Demeter waited until July 13th to take Elle to Diagon Alley for her school things. They still beat the rush of students that would arrive in two days when the official owls were sent out, but the lanes were still thrumming with activity. Witches and Wizards, selling and trading on every side of them, called out their wares and prices along with promises and guarantees of "highest magical quality," as they passed. Elysia had already been warned that she would only be allowed to get what was listed in her letter and nothing more, though if she was well-behaved for the rest of the summer she may get a special gift in August before leaving for school. Elysia didn't mind not getting a magical animal until August, she had very few friends her own age, and was more excited for texts books and potion ingredients, and her very own wand. It would be difficult, she thought to herself, to refrain from attempting any spells or potions before she was on her way to Hogwarts… and if she did want a pet, she would certainly have to put up a valiant effort to stay grounded. Maybe she should find some other way to occupy the rest of the summer..


	2. New Creatures

July seemed to last forever, and when it finally ended Elle found she had four more weeks before she would be boarding the Hogwarts Express.

"I don't see why you're so impatient to go off to school, Ellie," Gran said one day after hearing about the seven moving staircases and how the sorting hat would know exactly which house Elle should be in, for the thirty-seventh time that day, "you spent the entire Christmas holidays there poking about the place while your mum prepared for the spring term. It's a wonder you think there's anything left to explore." And with that she finished directing the magically folded laundry into the proper bedrooms. Elle sighed and picked up her new copy of One Thousand Magical Herbs and Fungi, returning to where she left off in chapter 9.

"Gran," she said closing her book again with a snap, "I'm going to miss you too." Her grandmother looked up, intrigued. "But it has to be about more than just having the house to yourself again. You practically pushed me into the floo when mum said I could spend Christmas at Hogwarts. So why shouldn't I be excited to start school?" Gran paused and thought deeply for a moment.

"The school year is much longer than just a Christmas holiday, Elysia. Besides, I had plans last Christmas." She said finally, starting a new load of laundry with a flick of her wand. Half-truths were always the trickiest things to see through, even for Elysia, and Gran was good at them but it was clear that she was hiding something, however small it might turn out to be.

"Alright. I suppose I'll just have to come back and bother you for the Holidays, then. Maybe I'll even bring friends and we'll run wild in the hills and you can scold us and put us to bed without dessert. How's that?" She said with a wicked smile. Gran shook her head and told her to go outside and enjoy the summer before she ran off to that school.

When August was coming to a close, Gran and Demeter took Elysia back to Diagon Alley. Elysia was practically shaking with nerves. She wanted to pick the perfect companion, but didn't know if that meant an owl or a cat or what. She decided that animals had to be about as good at selecting a human as a wand did, and resolved to simply pay attention and let the animals do the choosing. She didn't expect Eeylop's to have quite so many friendly animals lining the shop. Cats were slinking around corners, some of them winding themselves through Elysia's legs and looking up at her expectantly, one particular Siamese catching her eye more than once. Still, none of the able-winged owls or prowling felines felt right. It was during her third circuit around the shop that Elle bumped, or rather was bumped, roughly against a stack of empty wooden owl cages. Elysia and the cages went down with muffled thumps and thuds. The person who had bumped her gasped and grumbled at themselves, and was soon struggling to help Elle to her feet.

"Urgh," the stranger said lifting two cages at once and stacking them with care near where they'd stood before. Elysia dusted herself off and looked up at the girl beside her. "I'm sorry." The girl said, haphazardly throwing a sheet of fallen hair back out of her face. Her hair was the golden color of champagne with a shocking streak of white framing her face on one side. "I was trying to pet that giant tabby cat and I just got off-balance… it happens a lot." She smiled sheepishly, her dark chocolaty eyes searching Elysia's for anger or forgiveness.

"That's alright." Elle assured the girl. "I wasn't having much luck before that anyway." And she found that she was unable not to smile back at the girl. The stranger stood at least 8 inches taller, but seemed to be about Elle's age so she decided to hazard a guess. "You're about to start at Hogwarts too then?"

"Yea, finally! I'm the last one in my family. My brother will already be a fourth year, My sister's in sixth now and my oldest brother just graduated and ran off to Greenland or something, he's kind of strange. What about you? Any family already at Hogwarts?" They strolled the aisles together, talking as they examined the animals all around them, but they barely glanced at the ornate pond that housed several different kinds of toads. Elysia told the girl about her mother teaching Runes for 3rd year and above, which impressed her new friend to no end. "What about your father? Does he teach at the school?"

"No he died when I was little, three years old I think. Mum started at the school when I was six. That's when I first met the headmaster. He's brilliant."

"Yea, everyone says so. Drayga, that's my sister, she always said he was handsome, even though he is kind of ancient, but I guess he's not THAT ancient. I heard one of the professors is a ghost, so he must hold the record for oldest teacher at Hogwarts." She said all of this smoothly, but it sort of just bubbled out of her as if the more she thought, the more information started to rise up. Elysia thought the girl was as much like champagne as any human could be; golden and bubbly and pouring herself into life with ease, and she decided that she would like very much to be this girl's friend. Someone near the door of the shop called out a name that Elysia didn't quite catch and the girl called back, "Coming, Mum. Hey, I've got to go, but I'll see you on the train, alright?" and she waived cheerfully as she turned and ran towards the voice.

The air was amazingly still in her new friend's absence and Elle was shocked to realize that they'd never exchanged names. It just hadn't seemed important at the time. She continued to wander through the store, feeling a bit hopeless about finding her perfect companion animal, when she stumbled upon a high table she hadn't noticed before. The table was narrow and ornate and housed only one large perch. The owl on the table was enormous with dark orange eyes and a sharp narrow black beak. Its black ear tufts had fine yellow-ish feathers on the backs of them and rose directly above its eyes. The shiny golden plate on the table said, "Eurasian Eagle Owl" and below that a handmade sign warned against getting too close to the bird's perch. Elysia walked to the front of the store and returned with a staff member.

"I want to know more about this owl, please." She said pointing to the bird who was regarding her over his shoulder.

"Oh, the big fella," The bearded man said. "We've had him for years now. Keep expecting some political figure to take him on as a sort of symbol, you know? But he's not what you'd call friendly, usually adopts what they call 'threat posture' when someone gets too close. Goes really puffed up and big looking to let you know he might take your arm if you're not careful. Probably be here for another ten years before some grizzled old coot takes him off so they can live miserably together for the rest of their lives. We've got some nice barn owls off 'dis way if you care to—"

"How much would you take for this owl?" Elysia said pointedly, not letting him steer her away so easily. The owl turned slowly around on his perch to face her, leaning forward slightly to stare intently into her face.

"Wha-… No. No, I don't think you understand. This old boy doesn't like people, he just doesn't. I know he's big and impressive, but you should just-" He stopped short, staring at the odd display he was seeing from the Eagle owl. The bird was slowly switching back and forth between his ridiculously large feet, standing first on his right, then on his left, bobbing his head almost imperceptibly as he went.

"What does that mean?" Elysia asked.

"It mean he's…happy." He stared dumbly between the bird and the little girl. "We've been asking 17 Galleons for him, plus the price of the cage.

"Oh, " Elysia said dejected, "my mum only gave me thirteen; she told me not to spend it all if I could help it.

"Tell you what, " he said stroking his beard, clearly amused by the odd pairing, "I'll take the thirteen for the bird, and throw in the cage for nothing. How's that sit with yeh?" Elysia almost threw her arms around him, but managed to contain her enthusiasm and simply offered her hand. They shook on it.

Demeter was shocked when Elysia met her and Gran at Florean Fortescue's Ice Cream Parlour struggling to carry a giant bird cage in which a regal, if somewhat stern, owl perched, gazing around stonily. The bird studied each of them as they sat around a small white table, and seemed to decide that he simply wasn't interested in them for the moment. Demeter could hardly be angry, somehow the bird suited the introspective girl in a way a cat simply wouldn't have. Gran was rather excited about receiving letters from Elle carried by this bird. It was a nice surprise all around, and Elle named the owl Rakesh.

When it was time to catch the train, the three women traveled through London in a hired car arriving at Kings Cross with plenty of time. Demeter let Gran walk casually through the barrier to platform nine and three quarters first, followed by Elysia with her trunk and owl, who took it at a brisk walk, before finally stepping through herself. Wizards and witches were milling around the platform, younger children clutching their parents' knees and others running through the crowd, saying their farewells. Gran stood by Rakesh's cage while Demeter helped Elysia get her trunk in the hold of an empty compartment. When they were back on the platform Elysia hugged Gran tight around the middle and promised to write often. Demeter kissed Elysia lightly on her forehead and told her she'd see her that evening at the sorting. Elysia was about the attempt to carry Rakesh onto the train when a familiar voice caught her attention.


	3. Trains, Lies, and Wand-lore

"Hey that's _some_ owl!" The voice said behind her. Elysia whipped around, already smiling. "Need some help getting him on board?"

"Sure, thanks." She said standing aside to allow the taller girl some arm room at the cage, "But, wait. - I still don't know your name." she said, glancing sideways at her mom and grandmother who were definitely listening.

"I'm Leora," and she offered her hand formally.

"Elysia," she chuckled, "nice to meet you." And they shook hands. Elysia introduced Leora to her mother and grandmother, and Leora pointed out her family through smoky crowd. Her parents seemed older than the parents of many first years, but then Leora _was _the youngest of four. Almost all of them, Elle noted, had blonde hair of varying degrees.

With Leora's help Rakesh was easily stowed in the corner of an empty compartment and the two girls settled in, chatting as the train prepared to leave the station. Leora sat next to her own owl's cage though it was extremely small compared to that inhabited by Rakesh. A small owl slumbered in the cage, it was barely as tall as a pint glass, but that, Leora explained, was because she was still very young.

"She's an Eastern Screech owl. Not really rare or anything, but she's so sweet. Never be especially big, though. I really liked that she didn't seem to scowl like a lot of the other owls and these little pebbly freckle spots, " she said indicating the birds lower stomach area, "and her too big ears. She's a goofy little thing, don't you think?" She said this last sentence lovingly as she watched the bird sleep. "Her name is Vered. I think it means "rose." What kind is yours? Huge isn't he?"

"He's a Eurasian Eagle Owl. The wizard at Eeylop's kept saying he was grumpy and mean, but he did this slow sort of dance for me, and it was supposed to mean he was happy I wanted to buy him. I named him Rakesh, it's from our book 'A History of Magic,' some ancient scroll mentioned a ruler by that name."

"Really? _He _danced? Amazing! Animals are so complex. More like people than they're given credit for, I think." Elysia nodded slowly, watching Rakesh watch them as the light outside changed with the scenery. An old witch trundled to the door with a trolley stacked with sweets and cakes. Elysia bought two chocolate frogs and a pumpkin pasty, but Leora bought a load of everything and insisted on having help to eat her way through it.

"So do you know what house you want to be in?" Leora asked between bites of a lemon macaron.

"I don't really mind any of them. It'll just be the sorting I'm excited for; I know the old hat will know just where to put each of us." Leora nodded vigorously in agreement while chewing.

"That's what I think. My grandfather on my dad's side, nearly had a fit when my sister was sorted into Ravenclaw, and he gave up all hope of continuing our "prestigious family history" when Serpian became a Hufflepuff. He threatened to go to the ministry and file an inquiry on the school and the hat and all kinds of strange things. I'll bet he's given up on me, but I always thought he was a bit mad. Could be the reason Dad became a healer." She laughed almost to herself, and Elysia suddenly wondered..

"Leora, what house did your oldest brother get sorted into." Her friend's smile faltered making her bright face look slightly wrong.

"He was in Slytherin House." Elysia was genuinely surprised when the girl didn't elaborate.

"He's graduated now?" she pressed, carefully reading the girl's face as she answered.

"Yes. Just last June." There was a minute tremor in Leora's bottom lip. She wasn't bubbling like champagne, now.

"What happened to him?"

"We don't- he just…left. I told you Greenland or North America or somewhere. We don't really know, but he said he wasn't coming back." She shook her head and spoke more quietly than Elysia had ever heard her. " It was aweful… the way he looked at Drayga and Serpian and all of us, like he was a different person. Maybe it was just a phase or quarter-life crisis or something, though, you know?" Elysia could see her friend trying to stopper the small pool of hurt she kept deeply hidden.

"Yea. You're right. That's probably what it is." She smiled warmly. "You think we should get into school robes? I think it'll be dark soon." Leora didn't say anything in response, but stood to lock the compartment door. Her face had softened again, already a little of her bubbly demeanor was returning. Before she got the lock to click however, the door was thrown open by a round-faced boy their own age, and he closed it quickly behind him.

"Hide me, please!"

The two girls just stared at him for a moment. Before she answered the boy, Leora's eyes brightened and she looked as merry as ever. "But why do we need to hide you? We're almost to Hogwarts. You don't really have anything worth hiding from, not here."

"Please there are two of them and they're huge. Please just hide me." He was begging and it was pitiful to watch. Elysia sighed heavily. She pushed him behind Rakesh's cage and covered him with her school robes and a few empty sweets wrappers for good measure. Then, Leora locked them inside. Not a moment later fists were banging on their compartment door. Leora opened the door in a huff, one arm hanging out from under the sweater she was wearing.

"Now what?" she grumbled convincingly, roughly stuffing her arm back into her sweater. Elysia almost laughed at their cleverness.

"Where's the lit'l weasel what come runnin' through 'ere," Said an older boy in the corridor. He had muddy brown hair and a smattering of freckles around his squashy round nose. A much taller and much skinnier boy stood behind him, he had a thin high-bridged nose and lank black hair. This tall boy eyed the compartment suspiciously, but said nothing.

"It's like I told the kid, no one here but us chickens and we were about to change into our school robes, so if you don't mind.." Leora said heavily, motioning for the boys to run along. Elysia thought they must be 2nd or third years and they were already in their robes.

"What you mean chickens? Where'd 'e run off to?" the first boy said. He was slightly shorter even than Leora and his friend was rolling his eyes at his companion's simplicity.

"It means they sent him on his merry little way, Derewood. Ladies, so sorry to have bothered you." And with a slight bow of his head, he ushered his thick friend away.

Leora locked the door once again and threw an unopened chocolate frog at the mound of clothing behind Rakesh's cage. "They're gone, buttercup, you can leave now." She said, chidingly.

"Thanks. I hate those types. It's like they can smell fear and they always pounce." He shook his head with shame.

"Ever think of not being afraid. It's all about attitude, you know. Just give off whatever sort of feeling you want; you just go for it. Think too much and it'll all just fall apart."

"She's right you know." Elysia agreed, "It's the most universal thing there is, telling people who you are without having to say anything at all."

"I'm not a good enough liar to kid myself, let alone anyone else, because I really am afraid." He said glumly.

"Oh, fine stay in here with us then. We'll go up to the castle together, but we need to get changed so you stare at that monstrous bird, and if you try to peek he'll make you wish you hadn't. Got it?" Leora said, looking at Elysia for confirmation. Elysia glanced at Rakesh, his head was bowed and he looked up almost mischievously. She nodded solemnly at the boy. He gulped and shook his dark brown hair out of his eyes, his slightly pudgy cheeks going pale as he turned to face Rakesh.

"You are an exceptionally good liar." Elysia told Leora as they changed.

"Awe, you're sweet to say so, Elle." She laughed. "It comes pretty naturally I guess, it's not like I try. Lying is no good in the long run. Unless you can make yourself believe, anyway." She saw the puzzled look on her friend's face and continued. "No really, think about it. The best liars have to believe without a doubt the false things they tell other people; actually make them the only reality they know. If not, it's too easy to forget something small, give too many details, and just make stupid mistakes, right?" and at this she waited for Elysia to think about it.

"Makes sense to me," the boy said from where he stood staring into the Eagle owl's cage.

"You can turn around now," Elysia offered. She neatly folded her regular clothes and stored them overhead.

"What's your name, anyways?" Leora said throwing herself back onto the seats. "Can you believe it happened again?" this was addressed to Elysia.

"Ollistare Cowen," he said quietly, opening the chocolate frog Leora had thrown at him.

"Nice to meet you, Ollistare. I'm Elysia and that's Leora."

"Ollie, can I see your wand?" Ollistare looked at Leora as if she'd asked him to peel off his own eye-lids.

"Why would you need my wand?"

"Because," she sighed as though it were the most obvious thing, "you can tell an awful lot about a person by their wand." He took out his wand and gazed at it lovingly clutching to his robes, unsure if he could trust her motives. "Oh stop quivering and hand it over for a second!" Leora snapped. Ollie handed her the wand. "I've been reading up on wand lore; dead fascinating stuff. Mine's fourteen and a half inches, Dogwood, Phoenix feather, and 'hard' according to old Olivander." She took out her own wand and held it up with Ollie's. "Yours must be about ten inches, springy… -what is this wood?" she paused and held the wand to her eyes feeling it carefully with her finger tips. "Is it willow?" Ollie nodded slowly. "A ha!" She handed it back to him, smiling. "What's the core?"

"Unicorn hair." He said, clearly impressed. Leora nodded sagely. "So what does it mean? Did Ollivander tell you all about yours? He didn't tell me anything." He practically squeaked with worry. Leora looked pointedly at Elysia who smiled and shrugged.

"You need to calm down. Don't take everything too seriously or personally or you'll never survive any little thing… let alone Hogwarts!" she gesticulated wildly as she said this, like she was moments away from grabbing Ollistare's shoulders and shaking him violently. Elysia was laughing, now. He just nodded obediently. Leora sighed. "Take a deep breath… Ollivander only told me what I told you, but I've been researching it. My sister had some advanced books magical plant life and so on, but there are more volumes I need to get on wand-lore in particular and I'd really love to get in touch with wand makers around the world. It's just so interesting! Not everything I found out about my wand seemed to make sense, but I was talking to Drayga and she claims it must be spot-on."

"Start with Ollie's wand," Elysia suggested. "It might calm him down, and I'd like to know what kind of rascal he really is." She smiled, and Ollistare smiled too. He seemed to be relaxing a little, finally.

"Yea, start with mine. I wonder if any of it makes sense."

"Oh, I'm sure it does." Leora said conspiratorially, before she laughed and became serious about her wand lore. "Ten inches isn't short by any means, but length doesn't necessarily correspond to height. Sometimes it has to do with force of personality, and other things like that. Apparently, if the wand is short in the extreme a person's character may be severely lacking in some way, but ten is a good length they say. Hmm…willow," she put two finger on each of her temples as if trying to compel information to present itself, "There's an old rhyme that I can't remember, it mentioned a couple of different trees, I think Willow was one of them. Oh, well. Basically, being chosen by a willow wand means you have a load of magical potential all built up, and that you tend to doubt yourself, _needlessly_." She stressed the last word and glared dramatically at Ollistare, which actually made him laugh. She rolled her eyes and continued.

"There's also something about non-verbal magic being much easier for a willow wand, which might come in handy if you don't learn to speak up for yourself. Oh!" she said remembering something else, "The unicorn hair! It's dreadfully loyal to its original owner, but you can't mistreat a unicorn wand 'cause you can actually kill the unicorn hair and then the wand is useless. So there you have it: love your wand and get ready to tap into your wild magical potential, kid." It was Ollistare's turn to roll his eyes. The train began to slow and they looked out the windows but smoke obscured their view of the platform.

As they stood up, Leora helpfully informed them that they left their things on the train and it would all just show up in their rooms by the time the sorting and feast were over. "Because then they'll know what house dormitory for each of us," she added.

"What about Elle's wand?" Ollie asked as they hopped off the train, bumping into and moving through the crowd of other students.

"Let me see it." Leora said pausing to let a large ginger boy move passed her. Elysia pulled her wand out from within her robes. "Wow." She gasped when she saw it. It was a rich glossy chocolate color."What kind of wood is that?"

"He said it was… Beech. With dragon heart string."

"Well, I'll have to check the books for beech, but I can tell you one thing, she's powerful. No, you hold her, but let me put my ear close.." Elysia held the wand and let Leora bow closely. "Yup she's thrumming. Perfect match, that." She held out her hand and Elysia handed her the wand. She weighted it, held it to her eyes and felt with her finger tips, narrowly avoiding being jostled by other first years as they heeded a call from the head of the Platform. "Well she's reasonably pliant, an elegant wand, to say the least. You won't want to let someone get that from you by force, dragon heart string is known for more easily changing allegiance than other cores, but then that still depends on the wood. Sorry, I can't remember more about the Beech." Elysia shrugged, more delighted by her friend's enthusiasm than anything.

"We'd better catch up, they said first years to the front," Ollie offered.

"This is it." Leora said, practically skipping towards the booming voice in the distance.


	4. First and re-introductions

The three of them stopped abruptly behind the rest of the first years and stared at the huge man before them. His face was hard the make out behind a mass of grey and black beard, but two small black eyes glittered in the light of the lantern he held.

"All here, then?" he said peering down at them through the near darkness. "All firs' years follow me." And he turned and led them away from the rest of the students. People all around them twittered anxiously, but not even Leora seemed capable of speech just then. They rounded a slight bend and came to the edge of the great lake and a flock of little boats.

Four of them sat in each one, except for their guide who sat on his own at the head of the little flock. Once they'd all settled in, the boats moved of their own accord across the gleaming black waters. They sailed almost silently in the night, passing under the bright stars that had just started to come out. As they passed under a stony over hang, the castle came into view. High in the night, nearly every window gleaming, Hogwarts stood welcoming them. Elysia had never seen the castle like this. It was genius to introduce them to it this way on their first night as students, she thought. Everyone gasped when it first came into view, then "ooh"ed, and "ahh"ed as they drew closer. Leora caught her eye and beamed. This was only the beginning..

When they reached a tiny landing the giant man helped them out of their boats and cleared his throat to signal for silence.

"Now," he said officially, "up those stairs you'll meet Professor Frinnell. He'll be explainin' the sortin' to yeh and lead yeh into the hall. I'll see yeh all at the feast." And he waved them on their way up the stone stairway.

"What does he mean he'll see us at the feast?" Ollie whispered as they climbed. "Who was he?"

"That's the grounds keeper, Hagrid," Elysia offered.

"Yea and he teaches Care of Magical Creatures for third years, sometimes special occasions later on…" Leora added.

It seemed to take ages to climb all the stairs. Leora grumbled something about making sure they were hungry for the feast by the time they finally stopped climbing, but hushed herself when they caught sight of a tall blonde man waiting for them at the top. He had deep green eyes that crinkled at the sides. Elysia thought he must smile all the time since he didn't seem especially old.

"Good evening," he said and broke into a grin. You couldn't even see the creases when he was smiling, they all smiled back, unable to help it. "I'm professor Frinnell; I'll be your teacher in the study of charms while you're here at Hogwarts. Soon we'll all be enjoying the welcome back feast, but first each of you will be sorted into one of the four Hogwarts Houses. As many of you already know, they are: Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw, Gryffindor and Slytherin. When I call your name you'll sit down and I'll put this old thing on your head," he held an ancient looking old wizard's hat that had, Elysia guessed, at some point in the past couple of hundred years been black and pointed, "Then it'll tell us all where you belong and you'll sit with at your house table for the feast. So, let's get into something resembling a line and head in, shall we?" They shuffled into a rough double line and followed Professor Frinnell into the Great Hall.

Elysia had been in this room many times before, but everything seemed much more magical somehow on this particular night. Thousand of candles floated above them, and the enchanted ceiling was bright with stars and a sharp crescent moon. Elysia had fallen into step beside Leora somewhere in the middle of the lines. As they fanned out in a semi circle at the front of the hall, Ollistare pushed his way closer to the two of them, looking nervous as ever.

The Headmaster, Professor Callodian stood at a winged podium facing the four house tables that stretched the hall directly behind the first year students. Behind him was a raised platform where the head table of Hogwarts teachers looked out over all of them.

"If we could all please quiet down, we'll begin the Sorting Ceremony. Afterwards, I have a few brief start-of-term announcements and we'll commence with our immense feasting." The hall fell truly silent as soon as he began speaking and now the slight wind outside could be heard easily. "Thank You." He said and rejoined his fellow teachers.

Professor Frinnell set the Sorting hat on the podium and stepped back. To the amazement of ever first year the hat began to speak, no to almost sing. It was a poem, Elysia realized. Long and melodious and it even rhymed. They stared delightedly for the entire of the ramble,but when it ended Elysia could not have quoted a line for all the gold at Gringotts. Still, she knew it had been wonderful. Frinnell once again stepped to the podium and unrolled a massive scroll. Before calling the first name, he winked jovially at the first years, some of the girls giggled.

"Alexander, Helena" He called. Helena had soft blonde curls and watery blue eyes. She walked forward and sat on the stool directly beside the podium and closed her eyes as the hat was placed on her head. A moment later the Hat yelled out, "Ravenclaw!" and cheers and applause erupted from the Ravenclaw table. Elysia noticed, as the sorting went on that each table had a banner hanging at the end of it. Each was embroidered with the respective house crest and symbolic animal, the latter of which roamed magically around watching the process with little interest. The blue and bronze crest of Ravenclaw featured a gleaming black Raven, that periodically fluttered its wings and cocked it's head at them.

Three more students were sorted, now, "Aster, William" Gryffindor, "Backer, Sylvia" Ravenclaw, and "Brown, Marion" Slytherin. "Caltwater, Elliot" was placed in Hufflepuff, as was "Costas, Wendy." Next up: "Cowen, Ollistare." He stared, terrified, at Elysia and Leora in turn. Elysia nodded encouragingly, but Leora pushed his shoulder a bit to start him moving, patting him lightly before he'd gone too far.

The hat seemed to take longer with Ollie than it had with the others. Elysia glanced around at the banners again wondering where he might end up, probably not with the regal lion on the scarlet and gold Gryffindor banner. Maybe the mild looking badger on the black and yellow field of the Hufflepuff banner would be a good fit, she thought, but just as she moved her eyes towards the last table the hat called out, "Slytherin!"

For the first time, but certainly not the last, Elysia found herself completely surprised by the boy Ollistare. He looked scared and delighted as he hopped off the stool. Leora looked at Elysia quizzically.

"Did you see that one coming? Because I would've put money on Hufflepuff." She admitted quietly. Elysia nodded once and waved at the boy. He now sat at the table marked with a green and silver crest on which a dark serpent coiled and uncoiled and slithered about idly. Elysia found herself getting slightly bored as they ran through the alphabetic list. She scanned the head table for her mother, met her gaze, and waved lightly.

"Levanin, Elysia," Frinnell, finally called. She left Leora's side with a quick smile and made her way to the stool. 'This is really it,' she thought with a surge of excitement. All eyes in the hall were on her but she couldn't see any of them; her focus was entirely on the hat as Professor Frinnell set it on her head.

"Ah.. Miss Levanin, yes, you will be a lovely addition. Wisdom beyond your years, and enough sense not to seek the fickle limelight, but where would you be best placed? There is a subtlety and artfulness to your potential, I think it better be, "SLYTHERIN!""  
And she beamed out at everyone as the hat was lifted off her once more. She was finally placed! She sat down next to Ollie and nudged him with her shoulder, excitement overtaking her completely. She already knew she'd spend much of her free time in the next week reading up on each of the Hogwarts houses. Their history and origins, she had to know everything as soon as she could. In the meantime, though, there was still one person whose place at Hogwarts she was eager to know. Elysia realized then that she still didn't know Leora's last name.


End file.
